It’s easy to get cynical about sports from time to time.

Money has turned pro and college sports into a business. In their quest to mold 8-year-olds with a smidge of talent into major leaguers, some travel ball and youth league coaches ratchet up the intensity to ridiculous levels.

Every now and then, however, you see something that restores the joy and remind you why sports mean more than just the score. On Tuesday in Vicksburg, at softball fields on opposite ends of town, a couple of those little things were on display.

Warren Central beat Neshoba Central 10-6 for one of the program’s biggest regular-season wins in years. Besides putting the Lady Vikes in the driver’s seat of the MHSAA Region 2-6A championship race, it ended Neshoba Central’s 52-game region winning streak that started in 2015.

As the game played out, full of dramatic twists and turns, the Lady Vikes showed plenty of grit and heart. They’d played Neshoba Central — winners of nine state championships in 11 seasons — very tough the past two seasons, so finally beating them was a sweet reward for a couple of years of hard work. The final out brought validation, joy and release all wrapped up into one.

Even though Neshoba Central’s long winning streak ended, the fact it lasted so long is also worthy of applause. A team feat that lasts 10 years, across multiple classes of players, is incredibly rare.

A few hours before that game ended, at Vicksburg High’s Softball Swamp, a different kind of moment took place.

On March 22, the Vicksburg Missy Gators held their annual Strike Out Cancer tournament. The money raised from admission and concessions went not to the program’s coffers, but to Nifolur Hawkins.

The Vicksburg resident was diagnosed with cancer in 2024. She was selected as the beneficiary of VHS’ softball tournament, with the money going to help with her medical expenses.

On Tuesday her fiance Jermaine Wince accepted a check for $2,168.50 on Hawkins’ behalf. He threw out the first pitch before the game against Ridgeland, and the PA announcer read a passionate letter from Hawkins detailing both the fear of her journey and her resolve to fight. Fans in attendance cheered for their Missy Gators, but we can also send up a few for Hawkins and Wince as they endure the battles ahead.

The brief ceremony before the game was a reminder, too, of how sports can be more than a game. They connect our communities in common goals. Sometimes it’s as simple as beating a rival. Other times, it’s helping a friend defeat a deadly disease.

When cynicism about the state of the modern sports world creeps in, we would all do well to remember those lessons.

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Ernest Bowker is the sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at ernest.bowker@vicksburgpost.com